


M'Naghten Rule

by firstbankofchickpea



Category: Psychonauts (Video Games)
Genre: Lawyers, One Shot, Prison, Spoilers - Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, legalese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23617000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstbankofchickpea/pseuds/firstbankofchickpea
Summary: “Well, you see, I don’t really know what all the fuss is about. All I did was remove a few bad teeth. That’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m a dentist!”
Kudos: 18





	M'Naghten Rule

**Author's Note:**

> This whole fic takes place prior to the events of the first Psychonauts game. 
> 
> I always found it interesting that Raz had to defeat a monster version of Loboto to get at his memory vault. He really buried everything related to his lobotomy deep into his psyche. I imagine he would want to talk about it as less as possible and might even bristle if somebody brought it up. 
> 
> BTW, this fic takes place before Loboto loses his arm (obviously). I'm just guessing that he lost it after he went to Thorney Towers.

David Silverman shuffled his stack of files impatiently. The young lawyer hadn’t expected to take on a new case this late in the day, but when legal aid called, you answered. He took a cursory look at the case file in front of him. His new client was a dentist by the unusual name of Dr. Caligosto Loboto. He was being charged with eight counts of aggravated assault and a corresponding eight charges of felony malpractice. Most alarming was the pending charge of attempted manslaughter. His client was looking at some serious time.

Silverman looked up when the door to the prison’s meeting room buzzed loudly. The thick steel door squealed in protest as a bulky guard pushed it open. In marched two guards holding on to the thin forearms of his client. Although the prisoner’s wrists were shackled in front of him, the doctor had a big toothy grin on his face which Silverman couldn’t help but feel unnerved by.

Silverman motioned for the guards to leave as his client sat down in the chair positioned across from him. Now that they were face to face, Silverman was immediately struck by his client’s odd appearance. The doctor was significantly tall and lithe. He wore thick dark glasses that seemed to accentuate his salient red and green eyes. His hair was dark colored, but appeared to be thinning in some areas. No, thinning was the wrong word. It looked more like the hair had been ripped out. 

The young lawyer extended his hand to the prisoner. “Good evening, Dr. Loboto. I’m David Silverman and I am the attorney who will be representing you in these matters.” The doctor looked him up and down before grasping his lawyer’s hand and giving it a firm squeeze. His shackles jangled as he did so. His smile never wavered even as he began to speak.

“Mr. Attorney! How nice of you to come! I do hope you can clear up this egregious misunderstanding. I am anxious for this whole mess to be over with so I can get back to my patients.” Silverman drummed the fingers of his left hand on the table in thought. The doctor clearly had no reasonable understanding of the charges levied against him. Whatever the outcome, it was more than likely that the doctor would lose his license to practice as a D.D.S.

The basis for an affirmative defense began to form in his mind even before he asked. “Dr. Loboto, could you tell me exactly what happened?” The doctor reached up with a fettered hand and scratched at a bald spot on his head. His crooked grin flexed as he explained. “Well, you see, I don’t really know what all the fuss is about. All I did was remove a few bad teeth. That’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m a dentist!”

Silverman tried to push him a bit. Reading from a file, he rattled off. “Let’s see, you pulled out six teeth on one patient without the use of a local anesthetic. You permanently disfigured a man’s upper jaw. You cut a woman’s mouth so deeply that she almost bled to death. Need I continue?” The doctor blinked at him incredulously. “Their teeth were bad.” He justified. “When a tooth is bad, you pull it. Simple as that.”

Clearly, the doctor could not assist in his own defense. He was still under the illusion that he had done nothing wrong. That was textbook insanity. Silverman clicked open his pen and began scribbling a few notes on the back of one of his numerous files. “ I am going to go ahead and enter a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.” The doctor shrugged. “Whatever you think is best.”

Silverman opened one of his files and began paging through the doctor’s personal medical records. Perhaps there was something in there that would help bolster his case, like a traumatic head injury or past diagnosis of mental illness. It didn’t take him long before he found it. The doctor had had a lobotomy at age seven. He couldn’t have asked for a better mitigating circumstance then that.

Leaning back in his chair, Silverman stated. “You’ve had a lobotomy.” The doctor said nothing, although it did appear as if his smile tightened ever so slightly. The attorney explained. “This could very well work in your favor. All I have to do is show for the record that you have a mental defect. The jury will have no choice but to find you not guilty. You could potentially serve just a few years in a psychiatric hospital.” 

Silverman flipped through the medical files absentmindedly as he continued. “The jury only has to see that you are as much a victim as your former patients are. It won’t be difficult to get a medical expert to testify as to the traumatic effects a lo botomy has on the brain’s reasoning capabilities. I can even call your mother and father as witnesses on your beha-” 

“No.” The doctor’s grin remained etched on his face, but his eyes were blazing with indignation. Silverman wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “No, what?” He asked tentatively. The doctor stated flatley. “ I will not allow you to bother my mother and father with this trifle. Nor will I allow you to discuss my procedure.” Silverman gaped at him. “Doctor Loboto, I don’t think you understand. We have to play whatever cards we have at our disposal. Our case will be rock solid with this evidence.”

Dr. Loboto leaned over so that his red and green eyes were level with Silverman’s brown ones. “Find another way, Mr. Attorney.” He hissed slowly. Silverman felt a chill run down his spine as the doctor’s harsh gaze bore into his soul. He had to remember what this man had been accused of doing in the first place. Silverman backed down. “Very… very well, but understand I can make no guarantees that the plea will be successful without it.” 

The doctor’s attitude lightened considerably. “Oh, I quite understand Mr. Attorney. I’m sure you will do your best and I can get back to work!” He proclaimed jovially. The door buzzed again and the same two guards returned. “Times up.” One of the guards grunted. They walked to either side of the doctor and began to lift him up by grasping him under the arms.

“Goodbye, Mr. Attorney!” The doctor practically sang to Silverman as he was led away. Before they had cleared the door, the doctor stopped short and looked back at his lawyer. “By the way, they took my shower cap when they put me in this dreadful place. Could you get it back to me, please? I’m a wreck without it.” Silverman looked up at his client before nodding slowly. “I’ll see what I can do, Dr. Loboto.”


End file.
